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Big in Brussels: The art of working and living in the EU Bubble
168 pages, Unknown Binding
Published May 23, 2025
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110 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 26, 2025
Perfect book to get as a goodbye present for your intern who just started in Brussels. In fact: I just bought one for my intern who is leaving next week. Do the same. Or just buy it for yourself if you are getting started in Brussels, that also works. Particularly appreciate the complete overview the book provides of life in the bubble, not only from the working perspective but also from the mental health point of view. Nice read.
March 5, 2026
This is a digestible booklet about common struggles in the EU bubble. Those who are living in said bubble will recognise many aspects - spanning from searching for a stable job to making life work as an expat/immigrant in Brussels. The author shares a frank account of his own experiences in the bubble and provides suggestions to newcomers.
November 2, 2025
easy evening read. interesting perspectives, but feels more relevant for those that have been in Brussels for a while and those stuck in their career/life here, than for starters wondering how to find their way
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March 6, 2026Many thanks for the reviews 🙏
For potential readers, please find below the first chapter to give you an idea of what my little book is about.
Living like a Sultan
“There are some similarities between ‘Brussels’ and a religion. You share a certain set of core beliefs. I am a believer!” Joelle Fiss, a former colleague and nowadays a politician in Geneva
The European project had always fascinated me, and my adventure began with a school visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This was soon followed by an exchange programme with a Belgian school.
During this time, not only did I get drunk for the first time in my life − my Belgian host treated me to Bush
beers (12 percent alcohol!) immediately after I got off the train − but I also fell madly in love with his Belgian classmate Helène.
I quite enjoyed this intercultural exchange, so studying International Affairs felt like a natural choice. However, it wasn’t until I secured an internship at a Brussels consultancy firm that I started to think that Brussels was the place to be.
When I arrived in Brussels at the beginning of this millennium, the lobbying (“public affairs”) sector had not been subject to much regulation and lobby firms were not yet as specialised in specific fields as they are today.
At times it felt a bit like the Wild West, with lobbyists acting like frontiersmen, expending most of their energy on pushing the frontier to claim as much
lobbying ground as possible. At the office where I worked, every potential client was accepted, and no task was considered a problem.
Although I was just an intern, I worked full-time for
three completely different clients and was billed to them as a “junior consultant” at around 75 euros an hour, which I naively believed to be a small fortune.
It was great to get so much responsibility, but when I was introduced to a client as “the firm’s in-house lawyer specialised in competition law” I did feel a bit embarrassed. After all, I had only taken a few law courses at university, and Groningen University in the north of the Netherlands is not exactly Harvard. However, the client seemed satisfied and even paid for lunch, so who was I to complain?
My initiation into the lobbying circus began with a mission to persuade the European Commission to reverse its decision to ban the substance “phthalates” in children’s toys.
At the time, I never questioned why we were opposing the Commission’s decision. After all, it does make sense to prevent children from coming into contact with dangerous substances.
But these deep questions didn’t cross my mind. I was a hungry young man eager to succeed at any cost and winning this case for our client seemed like a great first step toward glory.
Fortunately, common sense prevailed, and our lobbying efforts utterly failed. And rightly so. Positioning yourself as a threat to children’s health is hardly a vote winner, so no Member of the European Parliament (MEP) wanted anything to do with us.
In hindsight, I am very glad that my younger self didn’t do a better job. The rather positive outcome of my failure is that my own kids could lick their toys without me worrying about them get ting cancer as a result.
Next, an exciting competition case landed on my desk, in volving a Danish firm complaining about subsidies given to a German competitor. Armed with rusty German from my Erasmus days in the beautiful town of Tübingen, I set out to convince local German journalists of the illegality of these subsidies.
It turned out to be eine unmögliche Mission. No one in eastern Germany could have cared less about a Danish company whining about its competitive disadvantage which was keeping German workers in a job. However, I became completely obsessed with trying to untie this Gordian knot, working day and night to satisfy my client and my bosses.
But in the end, it was the third task that made me fall in love with the Brussels jungle and all that comes with it. Sultan Qaboos entrusted us with the honourable, and much more positive, duty of strengthening ties between the Sultanate of Oman and the European Union.
Oman aimed to present itself as the most “Western” country in the region (with two female ministers, no
less!) and sought to position itself as the bridge between the Middle East and the West, as well as a beacon for lucrative business opportunities.
Although my sense of direction in Brussels was and still is completely lacking, I was entrusted with the logistics. I found myself in charge of six limousines, four VIP vans and two buses, all at my disposal to guide the Omani delegation around the Belgian capital.
My responsibilities extended beyond mere navigation. I ensured the Omani ministers and their wives felt
comfortable by showing the ladies the best shopping streets and advising the men on the finest restaurants. It wasn’t necessarily an intellectual tour de force, but I loved meeting people who could make a difference.
Throughout “Oman Week,” I cruised the streets in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes E-class, ferrying ministers to their meetings and doing my best to explain how the Brussels machinery worked.
A delightful bonus was that I developed a good relationship with the drivers and took advantage of the opportunity to use the service as my private taxi. I must admit, as a 21-year-old from a small village in the east of the Netherlands, it felt pretty cool to have a chauffeur waiting for me in front of the Delhaize while I quickly grabbed some groceries.
It certainly helped to get attention from some of the many female interns who were also trying to get a foothold in Brussels in one of the many consultancy firms or institutions.
Meanwhile, I helped to set up meetings with European commissioners, MEPs, and even the current King Philip. It was hard work, demanding a lot of improvisation, and it was easily one of the most stressful weeks of my life, but I absolutely loved it.
I worked hard during the day and partied with my fellow-interns at night. I felt like the King of Brussels and had the feeling that I was giving the Middle East peace process a big boost while I was at it.
“Brussels” felt so much larger and more thrilling than
anything I had experienced in the Netherlands. The feeling of being allowed to participate in something grander, of being one of the gang that was bringing together an entire continent, all while enjoying the luxury of five-star vehicles, restaurants, and
colleagues.
It felt like I had had found my place and I wanted more of it.
For potential readers, please find below the first chapter to give you an idea of what my little book is about.
Living like a Sultan
“There are some similarities between ‘Brussels’ and a religion. You share a certain set of core beliefs. I am a believer!” Joelle Fiss, a former colleague and nowadays a politician in Geneva
The European project had always fascinated me, and my adventure began with a school visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. This was soon followed by an exchange programme with a Belgian school.
During this time, not only did I get drunk for the first time in my life − my Belgian host treated me to Bush
beers (12 percent alcohol!) immediately after I got off the train − but I also fell madly in love with his Belgian classmate Helène.
I quite enjoyed this intercultural exchange, so studying International Affairs felt like a natural choice. However, it wasn’t until I secured an internship at a Brussels consultancy firm that I started to think that Brussels was the place to be.
When I arrived in Brussels at the beginning of this millennium, the lobbying (“public affairs”) sector had not been subject to much regulation and lobby firms were not yet as specialised in specific fields as they are today.
At times it felt a bit like the Wild West, with lobbyists acting like frontiersmen, expending most of their energy on pushing the frontier to claim as much
lobbying ground as possible. At the office where I worked, every potential client was accepted, and no task was considered a problem.
Although I was just an intern, I worked full-time for
three completely different clients and was billed to them as a “junior consultant” at around 75 euros an hour, which I naively believed to be a small fortune.
It was great to get so much responsibility, but when I was introduced to a client as “the firm’s in-house lawyer specialised in competition law” I did feel a bit embarrassed. After all, I had only taken a few law courses at university, and Groningen University in the north of the Netherlands is not exactly Harvard. However, the client seemed satisfied and even paid for lunch, so who was I to complain?
My initiation into the lobbying circus began with a mission to persuade the European Commission to reverse its decision to ban the substance “phthalates” in children’s toys.
At the time, I never questioned why we were opposing the Commission’s decision. After all, it does make sense to prevent children from coming into contact with dangerous substances.
But these deep questions didn’t cross my mind. I was a hungry young man eager to succeed at any cost and winning this case for our client seemed like a great first step toward glory.
Fortunately, common sense prevailed, and our lobbying efforts utterly failed. And rightly so. Positioning yourself as a threat to children’s health is hardly a vote winner, so no Member of the European Parliament (MEP) wanted anything to do with us.
In hindsight, I am very glad that my younger self didn’t do a better job. The rather positive outcome of my failure is that my own kids could lick their toys without me worrying about them get ting cancer as a result.
Next, an exciting competition case landed on my desk, in volving a Danish firm complaining about subsidies given to a German competitor. Armed with rusty German from my Erasmus days in the beautiful town of Tübingen, I set out to convince local German journalists of the illegality of these subsidies.
It turned out to be eine unmögliche Mission. No one in eastern Germany could have cared less about a Danish company whining about its competitive disadvantage which was keeping German workers in a job. However, I became completely obsessed with trying to untie this Gordian knot, working day and night to satisfy my client and my bosses.
But in the end, it was the third task that made me fall in love with the Brussels jungle and all that comes with it. Sultan Qaboos entrusted us with the honourable, and much more positive, duty of strengthening ties between the Sultanate of Oman and the European Union.
Oman aimed to present itself as the most “Western” country in the region (with two female ministers, no
less!) and sought to position itself as the bridge between the Middle East and the West, as well as a beacon for lucrative business opportunities.
Although my sense of direction in Brussels was and still is completely lacking, I was entrusted with the logistics. I found myself in charge of six limousines, four VIP vans and two buses, all at my disposal to guide the Omani delegation around the Belgian capital.
My responsibilities extended beyond mere navigation. I ensured the Omani ministers and their wives felt
comfortable by showing the ladies the best shopping streets and advising the men on the finest restaurants. It wasn’t necessarily an intellectual tour de force, but I loved meeting people who could make a difference.
Throughout “Oman Week,” I cruised the streets in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes E-class, ferrying ministers to their meetings and doing my best to explain how the Brussels machinery worked.
A delightful bonus was that I developed a good relationship with the drivers and took advantage of the opportunity to use the service as my private taxi. I must admit, as a 21-year-old from a small village in the east of the Netherlands, it felt pretty cool to have a chauffeur waiting for me in front of the Delhaize while I quickly grabbed some groceries.
It certainly helped to get attention from some of the many female interns who were also trying to get a foothold in Brussels in one of the many consultancy firms or institutions.
Meanwhile, I helped to set up meetings with European commissioners, MEPs, and even the current King Philip. It was hard work, demanding a lot of improvisation, and it was easily one of the most stressful weeks of my life, but I absolutely loved it.
I worked hard during the day and partied with my fellow-interns at night. I felt like the King of Brussels and had the feeling that I was giving the Middle East peace process a big boost while I was at it.
“Brussels” felt so much larger and more thrilling than
anything I had experienced in the Netherlands. The feeling of being allowed to participate in something grander, of being one of the gang that was bringing together an entire continent, all while enjoying the luxury of five-star vehicles, restaurants, and
colleagues.
It felt like I had had found my place and I wanted more of it.
August 10, 2025
I highly recommend this book. A must read for everybody (aspiring) working in the Bubble. All very recognizable!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews